


Ode to Whitney

by ananbeth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: ANYWAY they're dumb and hot I love them, Cliche prompts, F/M, the band I had in mind was royal blood so do what u want with that, the other characters are so background I feel bad for tagging them lol sorry, wherein annabeth is the hot bodyguard and percy is the hot drummer because I do what I want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26921029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ananbeth/pseuds/ananbeth
Summary: a response to the following prompts:2. Your shirt/jumper was in the laundry pile and I couldn’t help but steal it22. You’re my new bodyguard and you’re cute.46. Argument leading to kissing/sex
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 304





	Ode to Whitney

**Author's Note:**

> this is so fucking dumb lol im so sorry

It was embarrassing, was what it was. Their band was small, only a trio, but it was him, the drummer whose name people mostly didn’t know, who had been receiving enough unwanted attention to require his own personal bodyguard. Connor and Travis had mocked him relentlessly during the whole meeting with their management until they were informed that their own security would be upped as well as an added precaution.

“It was only a letter,” Percy complained for the millionth time to his manager through the phone.

Beckendorf sighed. “It was twenty letters, Percy.”

“You’re being pedantic.”

“You’re being an idiot. You’re going on tour in two weeks, I can't have you getting kidnapped by some lunatic fan who’s convinced you’re going to marry them and have their babies.”

“I can see some difficulties in that plan. Beck, it’s only a bit of light stalking? There’s worse things.”

He could picture Beckendorf pinching the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath. “For the love of god, Percy. Don’t bring this up in the interview today.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but thanks for the pointer. You got any other good tips?”

“Be nice.”

“I’m a very nice boy all the time, thank you.”

“You got into an argument with that radio host two weeks ago.”

“Well, he was a sexist piece of shit. What do you want from me?”

“I want you to promote your album and bite your tongue from time to time. You need to go. Your new bodyguard should be there to escort you.”

“Fabulous.”

“Don’t be a dick to them, Percy. They’re just doing their job.”

He sighed. “Again, I’m always nice.”

“I suppose you are. See you later.”

“Bye, Beckendorf.”

Percy hung up his phone and shoved it in his pocket just as there was a knock at his apartment door. He frowned before realising it must be the new bodyguard as promised, and crossed the sparse apartment to open the door. He expected someone of his manager’s stature, tall and muscled and a little angry looking. Well, the description fit, but just not how he expected.

The woman standing on the other side of the door was tall, only a couple of inches shorter than him, and slim but held herself in a way that made Percy think she could probably throw him over her shoulder if she wanted to. She certainly ticked the angry box too, with her face set sternly in a way which told him she wasn’t here to mess around. She softened slightly as she looked him over and offered her hand to him.

“Annabeth Chase. I’m your new security personnel.”

“You’re my bodyguard?” Percy asked, slow and dumb, as he lifted his hand to shake hers. 

She took it, squeezed once, and released him, returning her hand to clasp the other one in front of her. She wore a black tailored suit, looking surprisingly understated, with her hair twisted neatly into a low bun.

She was fucking hot.

The corner of her mouth pulled up just slightly as she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, I suppose I am. I’m here to escort you to the TV studio today.” She lifted her arm to check her watch and frowned. “We should be leaving soon. Are you ready?”

Percy looked down at himself. He wore ripped black jeans and a faded Led Zeppelin t-shirt under an open grey shirt. He didn't often step out of the spectrum of wearing black and certainly didn’t dress up for press junkets.

“Uh, yeah?”

“You’re not wearing any shoes.”

“Oh.” He looked down, as if to check, and then wanted to smack himself for being so dumb. “Course, lemme - hang on a sec.”

He spun on his heel and went to find some sneakers to drag on, leaving Annabeth at the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he called to her. “Come in. I’ll only be a minute but make yourself comfortable.”

He didn't wait to see if Annabeth followed his instructions or not as he began tearing through his suitcases to find some shoes. He really needed to properly unpack this place. When he finally returned to the main room, Annabeth was standing close to the door, taking up as little space as possible as she surveyed the room. She snapped her gaze to him immediately as he walked up to her.

“Have you been here long?” she asked him.

Percy winced. “Uh, six months.”

Annabeth looked at him, eyebrows raised. “So this is just...how you live?”

He laughed, embarrassed and pleasantly surprised by the sharp dryness of her tone.

“I’m excellent at putting things off and I guess I’ve been a little busy.”

She appraised him for a little longer and Percy felt nervous and twitchy all of a sudden. Then she nodded, as if to herself.

“It’s a great place. I hope you find some time to start living in it for real.”

“Me too.”

She nodded again. “We should go. Are you ready.”

“Um.” He patted his pockets confirming the location of his phone and keys, and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Let’s go.”

Annabeth didn’t let him open any doors or touch any elevator buttons. She remained either slightly in front or behind him - depending on the situation - hovering like a shadow, never intrusive or overbearing. He was unsure how she managed to be so inconspicuous and so much of a presence all the time. When she was needed, she was right there, blocking someone's path to Percy and subtly redirecting them before they could get too close. But for the rest of the time, she was a silent shadow. It was more comforting than Percy had expected.

She was also enjoyable to be around. Percy was growing to enjoy the quiet way she mocked him during most of their interactions, teasing his fashion sense and smirking at his bouncing leg and jittery hands which were always tapping a beat on something, drum sticks in hand or not. He gave back what he could, outraged at her lack of interest in any music at all and desperately trying to educate her and figure out what she enjoyed. She was a closed book though, allowing him in only rarely and giving very little away about herself. Each bit of information he got was stored carefully away in his mind like nuggets of gold. 

He had been expecting a massive guy breathing down his neck and bulldozering his way into all of Percy’s interactions. Annabeth was so wildly far away from that. He found her presence to be a relief more than anything, and would look over his shoulder often, to check she was still there - which, of course, she was. It was becoming a problem actually, how much he enjoyed her being there.

Travis and Connor wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

“I’m so jealous,” Connor whined as they were setting up to run through their set.

They would leave for the tour tomorrow, bodyguards in tow. Annabeth was currently in the audio booth, focused on her phone screen, seemingly confident that Percy was not at risk in that moment. 

Percy looked from her to his bandmate and frowned. 

“What’s wrong with your guy?”

Connor rolled his eyes. “First of all, he’s a grumpy fucker-”

“You’re just saying that because he doesn’t laugh at your jokes,” Travis interjected. 

“-and second of all. He doesn’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model.”

Percy frowned at him. “Dude.”

“Right. Sorry. But you have to admit that she’s gorgeous, Perce. Even you.”

“What d'you mean, _even me_?”

The brothers exchanged looks and Percy felt his eyes roll before he could stop himself. He loved these guys, but sometimes they reminded him just how related they were and how easily they spoke their own language which he wasn’t privy to - even after knowing them for ten years. 

“You’re kinda picky, my guy.”

“Fuck all the way off. Just because I don’t wanna sleep with fans. That’s an abuse of power and it’s fucking gross.”

Travis was looking at the strings of his guitar, tearing the pick, as he spoke. “Regardless, you still haven’t dated anybody in like, two years.”

Percy rolled his eyes with genuine intent this time. “I’ve been busy.”

“Sure. Anyway, you have to admit that she’s hot.”

 _“Connor,”_ he groaned, feeling his face get hot despite himself. “Please stop.”

“Oh my god. You like her. You, like, actually like her.” He turned to his brother with glee. “Travis, our boy is in _love.”_

“I fucking hate you so much.”

“Are you boys about ready?” This came from the booth and shocked them all into motion. 

“Yeah, man,” Travis called back. “Let’s go.”

Rolling out his shoulders and picking up his drumsticks, Percy glanced over at the booth, praying that their mics has not been on for that conversation. He thought about the music for the next several hours, letting it consume his focus and draw a familiar, wonderful ache to his arms and shoulders as he kept up with the boys and they ran through their set until they felt they could do it in their sleep. 

Four weeks later found them deep into the tour in Saint Paul, enjoying a last meal in the city before they packed up and moved on again. The restaurant they chose downtown was quiet and they had managed to bag a room in the back. Travis and Connor’s stern looking bodyguard stood at the door, having declined their invitation to join them for dinner. But Annabeth, to Percy’s absolute delight, had not had such qualms. She had positioned herself strategically to Percy’s left, between him and the door, as if ready to act as a human shield to whatever might be fired his way. As if his concerns were more than an over-enthusiastic fan with exuberant handwriting.

Annabeth took her job very seriously, Percy had learned.

“You can have a drink, ya know?” he said to her, leaning close to be heard over the raucous noise of their stuffed table.

She smiled at him. Annabeth rarely smiled at anyone, but she smiled at him often. He tried not to think too hard about that.

“I’m working, Percy.”

“I feel bad.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Should I show you my paycheck? You might not feel so bad after that.”

He laughed and watched her hide another smile behind her glass of water. “Alright. I just think you deserve a night off. I mean, we’re in _Minnesota.”_

She continued looking at him, as if waiting for the punchline. 

“Do you not have fans in Minnesota?” she asked eventually.

Percy sighed. “I just mean…”

“What?”

He couldn’t look at her. “I don’t know. You must get sick of hanging around me all the time.”

A moment went by with nothing said at all. Percy couldn’t even tune back into the conversations around him, no matter how loud they were. He was hyper focused on Annabeth’s breathing next to him, the way it paused and then resumed again after a stilted moment.

“Well, you are quite annoying. But I’ll cope.”

Percy looked at her, at the clever quirk of her smile and the steady grey gaze of her eyes and, underneath all of that steel, a blush high on her cheeks. He smiled back at her.

“I’ll try to rein it in.”

“Much appreciated.”

Percy was dragged into another conversation after that, and at some point Annabeth managed to slip quietly away from the table. He missed her instantly, and started to worry about what that really meant.

She returned to his side as they left the restaurant. The group was travelling together to the hotel they all had rooms booked in, but she still remained close by, undeterred by any notion of safety in numbers. They all split up between a few cars and Percy ended up sandwiched between Connor and Annabeth in the back seat of a Lyft. Connor was drooling on his shoulder and Annabeth was adjusting her gaze between the driver and her own window. Connor let out a particularly loud snore which had Annabeth snorting next to him. Percy leaned up to pat his friend’s cheek affectionately.

“He’ll be embarrassed you’ve seen him like this,” Percy told Annabeth, not bothering to keep his voice low. He’d known Connor long enough to know that he would sleep through this. He’d slept through Percy’s drum practice enough times.

Annabeth didn’t look at him but kept her eyes trained on the road ahead. He knew she was listening though by the lift of the corner of her mouth and the way she tilted herself slightly towards him.

“Why’s that?” she asked him.

“Because he thinks you’re the coolest person on the planet.”

Annabeth laughed softly. God, he fucking loved making her laugh. He was going to make it his personal mission to make her laugh as much as he possibly could. Every day. That was his new occupation now.

He was a little bit drunk.

“He’s literally in a rock band. A person doesn’t get much cooler than that. I’m just a security guard.”

“You’re a _body_ guard. It’s very fucking cool, Annabeth. Wait, does that mean you think _I’m_ cool?”

She actually looked at him then, her smile the softest he’d seen it. “Yes, Percy. I think you’re very cool.”

He grinned. “Aw, you think I’m cool!”

“Very cool,” she corrected gently.

“I’m super glad you’re my bodyguard, Annabeth.”

She was looking at him differently now. He noticed the shift as her expression hardened like a sudden frost. He didn’t understand it and wondered what he had done wrong. His thoughts felt slow and mushy and he wished he hadn’t had that last beer because now Annabeth was looking at him with a complicated expression which he couldn’t even begin to understand.

Slowly, she nodded, and looked at the road again.

“I am too, Percy,” she told him. But something else felt unsaid.

The next day brought him a headache and regret. They were up early to start driving to the next city and Percy noticed Annabeth’s absence immediately as he hauled himself and his poorly packed overnight bag onto the tour bus. He sat down opposite Travis and frowned at him.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Have you seen Annabeth?” Percy asked without preamble.

Travis raised his eyebrows. “You mean your shadow? No, I haven’t.”

Percy pulled out his phone and texted her, feeling a deep worry settle in his gut as the engine of the bus rumbled to life beneath them. Fortunately, the three bubbles popped up immediately, telling him Annabeth had already read his message and was responding. His relief dissipated quite quickly though as the bubbles disappeared and reappeared a few times as Annabeth apparently struggled to figure out a response.

Finally, after they had pulled onto the freeway, her reply came through.

Annabeth: _You asked about my days off, well this is one of them. Don’t worry, Argus will look after you while im gone. I’ll meet you in Houston._

Percy felt his heart plummet and settle somewhere close to his stomach. That was a week away. She would be gone for a week. Part of him felt reassured that she would be coming back, but the rest of him just missed her, immediately and aggressively. He also wondered why she had left so abruptly and without warning. He wondered what he might have done to make her want a break from him.

Finally, he managed to type out a lacklustre reply, telling her to enjoy her days off and an eventual safe trip to Texas. He didn’t add that he would miss her - already did - or make a joke which could easily be construed as flirting because it would be. He restricted himself to one smiley face emoji and hovered over a blue heart before deciding against it and sending the message.

Annabeth did not reply.

* * *

Percy knew he was moping. He knew it but couldn’t do anything to stop it. He still threw himself into the shows with familiar joy and vigour. But he dragged himself into his hotel room each night only to collapse into bed and stare at the ceiling for several hours. 

It was unbelievable how much he missed her. Ridiculous and irrational. He had known her for less than a month, and yet. She has begun to feel like a new constant, only to be stolen away - no, only to have stolen herself away. He had to remember that she chose to leave, without a word. 

Percy had almost worked himself into anger by the time they were arriving into Houston. He was cranky from lack of decent sleep and had spent most of the journey looking at his phone for any new messages. Several came in, though not from the person he had wanted them to. 

He was actually taken by surprise by the sight of Annabeth standing in the lobby of their hotel, wearing her usual dark suit despite the heat. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her as she watched Percy approach her. 

“Hello,” she greeted him when he stopped in front of her. 

“Hi.”

“You look surprised to see me,” she said. “I told you Houston, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did. I just…” Didn’t quite believe it. “You look good. You have a good break?”

Annabeth nodded. “I did. How were the shows?”

“They were...fine. Good. Great.”

A hint of a smile. “Great.”

He hated this. This was not what she had left behind. This was something new and uncomfortable left in its wake. 

To his displeasure, the uncomfortableness did not dissipate over the next few days as he had hoped it might. Annabeth still remained close by as she had always done, resuming her position as his unassuming shadow a step behind or in front of him. But she spent less time _with_ him. It seemed an impossible distinction to make and yet it was true. She no longer joined the band for meals, choosing instead to linger by the doorway. She didn't allow conversation between the two of them as had been the norm before her disappearance. Now she was distant and quiet with him.

She was just doing her job.

A week and a half later found Percy in his hotel room in Sacramento, hammering away at the portable electric drum kit with headphones clamped over his ears. He had stripped down to a pair of basketball shorts, feeling sweat cling to his skin despite the weak stutter of the AC in the room. His arms and shoulders ached from weeks of relentless playing and he should be resting now, really. But drumming was the only way he could get out of his own head at times like this.

He could let his mind empty as he rattled beats into the paddles, sometimes in a rhythm and sometimes not. It was easy and familiar to him and he wasn’t thinking about his steel eyed, blonde-haired bodyguard at all.

Not until she was waving a hand in front of his face.

Percy stopped drumming and yanked down his headphones, taking in the urgency of her expression.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, expecting a stampede of teenage girls to file through the door by the stark expression on her face.

“I called your name,” she said. “Several times. I was knocking on the door for at least five minutes.”

“Oh…” He looked around her, finding the door to his hotel room to be wide open with a meek looking porter standing on the other side. “My bad?”

Annabeth scoffed. She marched back to the door, shoved something at the startled looking porter - Percy presumed a tip - and snapped the door shut in his face. She remained facing it for a few beats and Percy watched as she visibly slowed her breathing down. He remained where he was, cautious not to disturb her and still trying to catch up with what had just happened.

Eventually, slowly, Annabeth turned to face him, leaning back against the door. He spotted a fleeting moment of embarrassment, before it was swiftly and professionally covered up by disapproving annoyance.

“I was worried,” she said. 

Her words should have made her seem vulnerable in that moment, but the way she said it flipped those feelings onto him instead. Percy stood up, putting down his drumsticks and removing his headphones all the way.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” he says. “Sound test isn’t until four.”

She breathed out through her nose. “I was coming to check on you...you hadn’t answered your phone and I…” She swallowed visibly. “I got worried.”

Percy stared at her, struggling to comprehend her words. It was part of her job description to be concerned about his safety, but this felt like something more. This felt closer to the emotions he was feeling before her departure, ones he had not felt again in the past two weeks due to her enforced distancing.

“Well, I’m sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say.

Annabeth nodded, still not looking at him. 

“Are you okay?” he asked her, worried.

She glanced at him, at his face, then down to his chest and arms which he realised belatedly were still bare, before looking away again. There was that blush again.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly. “I’ll go. Just- keep your phone on loud or something.”

“You don’t have to go,” he said, trying to ignore the desperate tone to his voice and keeping his feet rooted to the ground despite the want in his very bones to move into her space.

She shook her head tersely. “There’s no need for me to stay. I’ll let you get back to practicing.”

“I’m not practicing.”

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at him. “Okay. Well, either way…”

He felt the frustration building in him again. She was so cold with him now. He missed the easy way they spoke before and then felt bad because this was her job, wasn’t it? Why should he make her feel bad for not enjoying spending time with him?

“Fine. Go,” he said. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

She didn’t go, though. She stayed where she was, hands linked at her front in her pressed black suit, and frowned at him.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked him.

“Nothing, Annabeth. I’m fine. I’m not in danger, you don’t need to hang around if you don’t want to be here.”

“I...I enjoy spending time with you, Percy.”

Percy’s gaze snapped up to hers and she looked away, clenching her jaw and looking like she hadn’t meant for that to come out. But Percy latched onto it, taking a step towards her and half expecting her to move backwards to maintain the space between them. But she remained rooted to the spot.

“It hasn’t felt like that the past couple of weeks,” he said.

She looked at him sharply. For the first time in weeks, he watched the steel of her gaze soften into something malleable and gentle. But then she was looking away again and Percy huffed in frustration.

“Did I do something?” he asks beseechingly. “To piss you off?”

“Percy- no, you didn’t do anything.”

“Then why are you being like this?”

“I’m just doing my job!”

He felt himself step backwards, like her words had been a slap. Of course, he had been looking into this too much, forgetting that she was employed to be here and not just hanging around him by choice. He had let himself get wrapped up in his emotions, as always.

“Right. Sorry. I...Sorry. You should go.”

“Percy...I didn’t mean that. You didn’t do anything.”

He kept himself closed off now, crossing his arms over his chest even as she stepped forwards cautiously. He dared to look up at her face, wide open and imploring. He didn’t know what she was trying to tell him though. She seemed to contradict herself with her words and her body, pushing him back into their professional boundaries but stepping forward to cross them a moment later.

“Okay,” he said.

She sighed and he thought she might stop her foot with how frustrated she looked. “I’m sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was upset you.”

Percy frowned at her. “What…?”

“I _do_ enjoy spending time with you, Percy. That’s the problem, that’s why I needed some space and…”

His brain raced to catch up with her. “And...what? You’re over it now? You got enough space?”

She frowned. “No. I should have stayed away really.”

 _“Why?_ Am I that unbearable to be around?”

Annabeth stared at him like he had just spoken an alien language, outraged and exasperated all at once.

“You...” she started and then she was walking towards him and lifting her hands to his face and pulling him down towards her.

Then they were kissing. Furiously and urgently. He was holding her and kissing her without his brain telling his body to do so. It was already happening by the time he caught up to it, but he didn’t stop. God, the last thing he wanted to do was stop this. This was everything he had been dreaming of for the past two months.

He was pushing Annabeth’s jacket off and dragging the crisp white shirt out of her waist band as she raked her hands through his hair and kissed him as if his life depended on it.

“Oh god.” She looked at him. She looked wild, with her hair falling loose of its usually meticulous style and her cheeks pink and her lips looking lovely and swollen. The fact that he had done this to her did not escape him. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she told him. 

It was the lack of conviction in her voice that made him hold her closer. The grip she had on him let him know she didn’t really want him any further away than he was right now. 

“We absolutely fucking should,” he replied. 

He watched Annabeth’s pupils blow wide as she looked at him, breathing heavily so that he could feel her chest rising and falling against his. If Percy was honest with himself, he had wanted this since he first opened his apartment door to her. Those feelings had only grown the longer he had known her and been able to pick details out of her and begin to know the depth of her. 

“Percy, I…”

“Please, Annabeth. Don’t go.”

Something shifted in her expression and she traced his cheek with her thumb, cupping the side of his face gently. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised him. 

With that said, he lifted her against him, pleased when she went willingly and gripped his shoulders and hips with her limbs. He felt the strength in her thighs as they clenched around him and had to take a moment to breathe so he didn’t pass out. Annabeth grinned at him and leaned in to nip at his earlobe. 

“Bed,” she told him, and he didn’t need to be told twice. 

* * *

“So what happens now?” Percy asked her later. After they had ordered lunch in the form of room service and returned to bed.

Annabeth checked her watch. “You have to be at the venue for soundcheck in a couple of hours.”

He groaned. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

With her arms crossed over his chest and her chin propped on top of them, she raised her eyebrows at him innocently. 

“I do?”

He pinched her side and she squirmed but didn’t move away. 

“You were worried about this happening,” he said and watched her expression falter as she looked down at his chest. 

“This isn’t exactly in my contract.”

“Well, I’d hope not.”

She laughed and he smiled in response. “It’s something that could get me in trouble though.”

“So what was your plan? To hope this just went away?” He was careful to keep his tone soft and not accusing. 

She shook her head. “I just needed to ride the tour out and then…”

He lifted her chin and smirked at her, teasing. “Until you could confess your love for me after the final show?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Shut up. Jesus Christ.”

“It would have been very romantic. You can still do it if you want.”

“No, thank you.”

“That’s hurtful, Annabeth.”

She scooted up and kissed him. “I’m so sorry. Is that better?”

“A little.”

Annabeth smiled at him, hovering over him. “We should keep this quiet,” she said.

Hurt sparked through his chest. Percy hadn’t had the best track record with relationships, usually ending up hurt after wearing his heart on his sleeve for somebody who wasn’t interested in taking care of it. Annabeth was different though. She would never hurt him, he knew that. There were three certainties in life: death, taxes, and the fact that Annabeth would protect him from any and all harm.

“Until the end of the tour,” she added, stroking the side of his face. 

“I could fire you,” he suggested. “Then we can do what we want.”

Annabeth laughed. “You can’t fire me.”

“Sure I can.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nope. Sorry, buddy.”

“Damn. So we’re gonna have to sneak around. That sounds kinda hot.”

“You’re ridiculous. It’s only another week or so until the tour ends. Then I’ll speak to your manager about bringing in another detail.”

“Wow, you’re really planning on keeping me around, huh.”

Annabeth blushed and ducked her head. “Sorry, I’m assuming a lot.”

He grinned and kissed her cheek, then rolled them over so he could lay over her in the bed. He smiled down at her pink cheeks and kissed then both, then her nose, forehead, lips. She sighed, all soft and content, and he never wanted to leave this bed again.

“You’re assuming just right. I want you around, a lot. It’s embarrassing how much I want you around.”

She looked up at him, biting her lip, and Percy met her gaze, trying to read her thoughts. She was holding back a smile and it pushed a dimple into one of her cheeks. She was an artwork of multitudes to him. Hard and soft, confident and unsure, a stern stare and a dimpled smile. He adored the candy sweet side lying beneath him in this moment just as much as the sharp suited woman who brashly shouldered paparazzi away from his face.

He wasn’t sure he would be able to keep this secret for another week.

“Well,” she told him. “You have me.”

Eventually, they made their way out of bed and managed to get Percy to soundcheck just about on time and Percy resisted the urge to kiss Annabeth goodbye before he ran over to his drum kit. She rolled her eyes at the wink he gave her when he sat down on the stool but he could swear she was blushing.

It wasn’t until their opening act was finishing their set when Percy found himself anywhere near Annabeth again. She was standing, unassumingly, to the side backstage. She watched him carefully as he approached her, checking Travis and Connor were out of earshot before he spoke.

“You’re looking very hot,” he told her.

She rolled her eyes. “Jesus Christ, Percy. Rein it in.”

He looked her up and down and then raised his eyebrow at her. “You’re the one wearing my clothes, and _I_ need to rein it in?”

Annabeth smirked as she glanced around them before looking back at him and shrugging. “It was on top of your laundry pile, I couldn't help myself.”

It was unfair how good the faded black T-shirt looked under her usual suit. Percy swallowed and reminded himself he was about to go on stage in front of literally thousands of people. Sure, he would be sitting at the back behind a whole drum kit, but still. All he really wanted to do in that moment was drag Annabeth to some quiet secluded place and take her out of that shirt.

“I was wearing that shirt the day we met.”

She smiled at him. “Yes, you were.”

“It looks better on you.”

“Hm. I have some pretty strong counter-arguments to that.”

He dared to lean in a little closer. Annabeth watched him, keeping her hands clasped in front of her.

“I can’t wait to hear them later,” he said.

She smiled, quick like lightning. “Oh you will. I’m not going anywhere.”

Percy straightened and glanced over to nod at his bandmates who were getting ready to go on stage. Then he looked back to Annabeth, with her neat hair and suit over his shirt, and the wicked smile she threw back at him.

“I’m counting on that,” he told her.


End file.
